U.S. patent number 4,149,623 [Application Number 05/836,660] was granted by the patent office on 1979-04-17 for overhead conveyor system.
This patent grant is currently assigned to American Chain & Cable Company, Inc.. Invention is credited to Walter T. Nelson.
United States Patent |
4,149,623 |
Nelson |
April 17, 1979 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Overhead conveyor system
Abstract
An overhead conveyor system comprising a conveyor, a track and a
plurality of carriers movable along the track by the conveyor
wherein each carrier is adapted to grip an article elevated into
the path of the conveyor and to release the article. The conveyor
extends along a path past a loading station and an unloading
station. Loading means are provided adjacent the loading station
for elevating an article into position to be gripped by the carrier
and unloading means are provided at the unloading station for
receiving an article released by the carrier at the unloading
station. In addition, infeed and take out mechanisms are provided
at the loading and unloading stations, respectively.
Inventors: |
Nelson; Walter T. (Frederick,
MD) |
Assignee: |
American Chain & Cable Company,
Inc. (Bridgeport, CT)
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Family
ID: |
24788467 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/836,660 |
Filed: |
September 26, 1977 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
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694351 |
Jun 9, 1976 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
198/470.1;
198/803.7; 198/803.9; 294/104; 294/110.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65G
47/61 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B65G
47/60 (20060101); B65G 47/61 (20060101); B65G
047/86 () |
Field of
Search: |
;198/358,469,470,477,479,482-484,489,490,678,680,682,653,654,694,695
;214/1BA,1BD ;294/11R,11A,99S |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Valenza; Joseph E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Barnes, Kisselle, Raisch &
Choate
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 694,351, filed June
9, 1976, now abandoned.
Claims
I claim:
1. In an overhead conveyor system, the combination comprising
a conveyor,
a track,
a plurality of carriers movable along said track by said
conveyor,
each said carrier being adapted to grip an article delivered to the
conveyor and release an article,
each said carrier comprising a pair of arms movable about
transverse axes toward and away from one another,
spring means normally urging said arms into open position,
said arms having portions thereof adapted to be engaged by an
article moved within said arms to move said arms to a position
wherein said spring means causes said arms to move to a closed
gripping position,
latch means operable solely by the movement of the arms when the
article engages the arms and assisted by the action of said spring
means to hold said arms in closed position,
said track extending along a generally horizontal path past a
loading station and an unloading station,
loading means adjacent the loading station for elevating an article
directly into said arms of a carrier as the carrier is moved past
said loading station,
and unloading means at the unloading station for receiving an
article released by said carrier at said unloading station,
said arms having elongated slots in the inner ends thereof,
pin means extending through said slots and interconnecting said
arms,
said carrier having an open-ended slot in which said pin means is
movable,
said latch means comprising a latching pin,
one of said arms having an elongated slot through which said pin
extends,
said carrier having a J shaped slot through which said latching pin
extends and a spring tending to urge said latching pin toward one
end of said J shaped slot.
2. In an overhead conveyor system, the combination comprising
a conveyor,
a track,
a plurality of carriers movable along said track by said
conveyor,
each said carrier being adapted to grip an article delivered to the
conveyor and release an article,
each said carrier comprising a pair of arms movable about
transverse axes toward and away from one another,
spring means normally urging said arms into open position,
said arms having portions thereof adapted to be engaged by an
article moved within said arms to move said arms to a position
wherein said spring means causes said arms to move to a closed
gripping position,
latch means operable by the movement of the arms when the article
engages the arms and assisted by the action of said spring means to
hold said arms in closed position,
said track extending along a generally horizontal path past a
loading station and an unloading station,
loading means adjacent the loading station for elevating an article
directly into said arms of a carrier as the carrier is moved past
the loading station,
unloading means at the unloading station for receiving an article
released by said carrier at said unloading station,
means for delivering an article to said loading means,
means adjacent said unloading station for taking an article away
from said unloading means,
said arms having elongated slots in the inner ends thereof,
pin means extending through said slots and interconnecting said
arms,
said carrier having an open-ended slot in which said pin means is
movable,
said latch means comprising a latching pin,
one of said arms having an elongated slot through which said
latching pin extends,
said carrier having a J shaped slot through which said latching pin
extends and a spring tending to urge said latching pin toward one
end of said J shaped slot.
Description
This invention relates to overhead conveyor systems.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the handling of articles which are to be moved from one station
to another, it is desirable to provide a conveyor system to which
the articles can be delivered while the conveyor is moving and from
which the articles can be released while the conveyor is
moving.
Accordingly, the invention is directed to an overhead conveyor
system which includes a plurality of carriers, each of which is
adapted to receive an article that is elevated into position at a
loading station, grip the article and move it to an unloading
station wherein the carrier is actuated to release the article
permitting it to be delivered to the unloading station.
Further, in accordance with the invention, infeed and take away
mechanisms are provided at the loading and unloading stations for
delivering articles to the loading mechanism and taking away
articles that are unloaded at the unloading station. Controls are
provided so that articles will be loaded or unloaded only when
there is a place for the articles in the loading mechanism,
carrier, or unloading or take away mechanism.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of the
system embodying the invention.
FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of a portion of the system shown
in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view on an enlarged scale
of a portion of the carrier shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the parts in a different
operative position.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5--5 in FIG. 4.
FIG. 5A is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 5A--5A
in FIG. 4.
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view of another portion of
the conveyor system.
FIG. 7 is an end elevational view of the portion of the system
shown in FIG. 6.
FIG. 8 is a wiring diagram of the system at the loading
station.
FIG. 9 is a wiring diagram of the system at the unloading
station.
DESCRIPTION
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 6, the overhead conveyor system embodying
the invention comprises a track 10 from which a plurality of
trolleys 11, having wheels 12 thereon engaging the track 10, are
provided. The trolleys 11 support a chain conveyor 13 that is
driven by drive means such as a caterpillar drive (not shown).
Carriers C are mounted at longitudinally spaced points along the
conveyor on hangers 11 and include arms 14 that are adapted to grip
articles A. Arms 14 are pivoted about axes transverse to the
longitudinal axis of the conveyor. The conveyor 13 is moved past a
loading station L where the articles are loaded into the carriers
and past an unloading station U (FIG. 6) where the carriers are
actuated to permit the articles to be unloaded, as presently
described.
A loading mechanism 15 is provided at the loading station L and
includes a cylinder 16 having one end thereof pivoted about a
transverse axis as at 17 to a base 18 and a piston rod 19 connected
to an arm 20 which, in turn, is pivoted intermediate its ends as at
21. Arm 20 includes an arcuate cradle or seat 22 that is adapted to
receive an article A when the arm is in lowered position and to
elevate the article to the position shown in FIG. 1 so that it can
be gripped by the arms 14.
At the loading station L, a transfer apparatus 23 is provided for
delivering articles to the arm 20 and comprises an endless conveyor
24 driven intermittently by a motor having an electric clutch and
brake 25 connecting it to the conveyor 24 (FIG. 2). The conveyor
includes pushers 26 that are adapted to engage the articles A and
move them into position onto seat 22. Electric eyes or photocells
PER-1 and PER-2 are provided for sensing the presence of an article
on the conveyor 24 and on the arm 20.
Referring to FIG. 6, at the unloading station U, a trough 27 is
provided and extends transversely for receiving the articles A
released from the carriers C.
Referring to FIG. 7, a take away mechanism 28 in the form of an
intermittently driven endless conveyor 29, controlled by an
electric clutch and brake 30, is provided for taking articles A
away from the trough 27. Conveyor 29 includes pushers 31. Electric
eyes or photocells PER-3 and PER-4 are provided for sensing the
presence of an article on the trough 27 and on the conveyor 29.
Referring to FIGS. 3-5, each carrier C includes a body 32 from
which the arms 14 are pivoted by bolts 33a, 33b. A pin 34 extends
through elongated slots 34a in the inner ends of the arms 14 and
interconnects the arms. A tension spring 35 is connected at one end
on a pin 36 and at the other end to one of the arms 14 as at 37 and
normally holds the arms 14 open. Each arm 14 is provided with an
inwardly extending portion 38 so that when an article A is moved
upwardly in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 3, the arms 14
are pushed upwardly at 38 causing the spring 35 to move over the
center of bolt 33a and thereby yieldingly urge the arms 14 toward
one another so that they will grip the article A. At the same time,
the pin 34 moves upwardly in a vertical open-ended slot 39 in the
carrier body 32.
A latching pin 40 is provided in a slot 40a in one arm 14 and
extends through a J shaped slot 41 in the body 32 that has a
vertical portion and an inwardly inclined portion. A spring 42
extends between the bolt 33b and the pin 40 and tends to urge the
pin 40 toward the upper end of the slot 41.
When it is desired to unlatch the arms 14, an unlatching device 43
on the track (FIG. 6) is energized to move the unlatching pin 40
downwardly and permit the weight of the article A on the arms 14 to
move the arms 14 to a position wherein the spring 35 will fully
open the arms permitting the article A to drop onto the unloading
trough 27.
As shown in FIG. 6, the unlatching mechanism 43 comprises a
solenoid 44 having a plunger 45 which actuates links 46 to move a
plate 47 downwardly into the path of the pin 40 so that the pin is
moved downwardly against the action of the unlatching spring
permitting the pin 40 to move toward the lower end of the slot
41.
The arms 14 and trough 27 are preferably coated with a material
such as plastisol to protect the articles from damage.
FIG. 8 shows the electrical circuit of the system at the loading
station. A time delay TD1 is provided for permitting the full
energization of the photo eyes PER-1 and PER-2. Each photo eye
PER-1 and PER-2 comprises a combined photocell and light emitter
and a retro-reflector which normally returns the light from the
light emitter to the photocell when an article is not present.
It can be seen that if PER-1 is blocked, it indicates that an
article A is present on the conveyor 24. If, at the same time,
PER-2 is not blocked indicating the absence of an article on the
arm 20, the clutch brake C/B-1 will be actuated causing relay CR-1
to close and to start the motor to drive the infeed conveyor 24 and
thereby deliver an article to an arm 20 until the switch LS-1 is
actuated by pusher 26 to stop the conveyor 24. Limit switch LS-2
indicates that the arm 20 is in position to receive an article and
will inhibit operation of the conveyor 24 in the event that the arm
is elevated. The initiation of the movement of the arm 20 by
actuation of the LOADER CONTROLS is controlled by relay CR-2 which
functions only when photo electric eye PER-2 shows the presence of
an article, CR-1 shows that the conveyor 24 is not operating, and
limit switch LS-3 along the track shows that a carrier approaching
the loading station is not loaded with an article. LOADER CONTROLS
operates to cycle cylinder 16 of loader 15 when a pulse is received
from relay CR-2. The duration of the pulse is controlled by time
delay TD-2.
Similarly, FIG. 9 shows an unloading station wherein the electric
eyes PER-3 and PER-4 have a time delay TD-3 associated therewith to
insure full energization before the rest of the circuit can
operate. The solenoid SOL.1 for unlatching the latch of the carrier
is fired when limit switch LS-5 senses that an article is in the
carrier, PER-3 is unblocked, and limit switch LS-4 senses that the
outfeed or take away chain is stopped. Time delay TD-4 adjusts the
time the solenoid SOL.1 is energized to extend deflector 47 into
the path of latching pin 40. When the article is delivered to the
trough, PER-3 indicates the trough is full and if PER-4 shows that
the take away mechanism is empty, the conveyor is energized to move
the article A from the trough and along the path of the conveyor.
This is achieved by relay CR-4 that actuates the clutch brake
C/B-2.
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